Category: Science and Tech

Often, when we first begin a new schedule, it can be very difficult to fit everything in. This is often a real challenge for students, who have moved away from home for the first time and are having to manage everything on their own. What happens is that they have a hard time getting their priorities right. It’s not that they are doing this intentionally; it’s more a case of not knowing how to juggle everything. But, this need not necessarily be a problem. Students would be well advised to write down a list of priorities and then work out how to stick to it. It is all too easy to forget about loved ones, especially when they are all too often far way geographically. But these days, with cheap phone plans, IM and even Skype, staying in touch has never been easier. Remember the days when it would take up to a week for a letter to travel overseas; now you can access those important to you with the mere click of a button. So make sure you have your Skype or other piece of technology set up ahead of time and that way you will find it easy and fun to stay in touch.

We hear a lot about global warming these days. But really, what is it? Put simply, since the middle of the 20th century scientists and researchers noticed a definite increase in the average temperature near the surface of the earth, namely in the oceans and in the air near the surface of the planet. This temperature increase is believed to be caused by burning of large amounts of fossil fuels, such as coal and oil. Upon burning fossil fuels release gasses into the atmosphere. These gasses are called ‘greenhouse gasses’ because they have a similar effect on earth as a greenhouse has, namely the gasses trap the radiant heat from the sun close to the surface of the earth, making it difficult for the extra heat to escape.

Deforestation, the cutting down of trees, contributes to the effects of global warming. Living trees and other vegetation remove carbon from the atmosphere, (carbon dioxide) and release oxygen through the process of photosynthesis, a crucial part of the earth’s healthy functioning. The fewer trees the more carbon remains in the atmosphere, a major component of greenhouse gasses.

It is feared that as a result of continued global warming the sea level will rise and weather patterns will change, creating more extreme weather conditions, and perhaps contributing to the extinction of more vulnerable species, and unknown changes in agricultural yields.

Many of the effects of global warming are still uncertain, but international efforts are being made to try and stop and even reverse the global warming trend as a prudent measure of caution.

The Hubble Space Telescope is in orbit around the earth, completing one orbit every 97 minutes. At 5 miles per second, the speed at which Hubble is orbiting, it would be possible to travel the span of the entire United States in just 10 minutes. During its travels Hubble’s mirror catches light from space and passes it into several different scientific instruments.
Contrary to the belief by many that telescopes work by magnification of objects, the real power of telescopes is in their ability to collect more light than the human eye can collect unassisted. The size of the mirror in a telescope determines the amount of light that the telescope can capture. The larger the mirror, the more light is captured, and the better the telescope can see. Although there are ground-based telescopes with mirrors larger than Hubble’s 2.4 meter diameter, because Hubble is above and outside of the earth’s atmosphere, Hubble is able to view the universe with unsurpassed clarity.

Hubble is outfitted with several different instruments which examine the incoming light from space in different ways. Together the information gathered from the many instruments on Hubble can give a more complete picture of the universe, extending and expanding our knowledge astronomically.

Now you’re a student, if you don’t have one already, you’re going to need to invest in a laptop. Since there are so many different ones available on the market, it is worth doing a bit of research before making the purchase. Here is a brief list of some of the things you might want to look out for:
a) Price – that is probably the most important factor. You don’t want to start going over your budget before you’ve even started your college years. Make a complete budget for your needs during college and feature the laptop into them. Don’t go over, no matter how tempting a particular model looks.
b) Weight – laptops can vary tremendously in how heavy they are. If lagging around a heavy laptop is going to be burdensome for you, choose one that is lighter in weight. Check out the different models for how they feel before purchasing.
c) Apple or PC – if you are a graphics person, you might want to choose an Apple laptop. They are also generally known to be more stable and dependable and crash less often. On the other hand, they tend to price somewhat higher so bear that in mind if you are interested in the Apple. The PC, while running slightly cheaper, can also benefit those who want to have exactly the same programs as the majority of other people since there are more PC than Apple users these days.
d) Storage – make sure you have a safe place to store your laptop in your college dorms. Never leave it out or exposed. Laptops are so popular with thieves.
Go get yourself a laptop for your college needs. Just make sure you research the various models ahead of time.

The Hubble Space Telescope is celebrating twenty years of exploration and discovery of the vast universe in which we are just a small part. Until Hubble allowed astronomers to probe into the deepest reaches of space, cosmologists could only guess the age of the universe to be somewhere between 10 and 20 billion years. With the help of Hubble the age of the universe is now given a much more accurate figure of 13-14 billion years.

Many key features of the universe have been discovered with the unique visualizing abilities of Hubble, such as dark energy, a mysterious force which accelerates the speed with which the universe is expanding. With the help of Hubble our understanding of how galaxies form has been advanced, as well as how solar systems and planets are born. Other planets have been observed orbiting their own suns in their own solar systems, proving that our solar system is not at all unique in the universe, something that was always conjecture, but never before actually visualized.

The amount of information spewing forth from Hubble is enormous, allowing astronomers to publish, as of today, over 6,000 articles based on data from Hubble. The Hubble Space Telescope has made a revolutionary difference in mankind’s understanding of the universe.

Mankind always had a fascination for the study of the heavens. Ever since the most ancient times man has looked up into the night sky with wonder and awe. But great leaps forward were made possible only with advancing technology. The first giant step in the progress of man’s understanding of the reality which exists outside our home planet of earth came with the discoveries made by Galileo and his indispensable telescope. Since that time, as telescopes improved, so has our understanding of the universe. However, as long as telescopes were confined to the surface of the earth, they were seriously restricted in their ability to see past an “ocean” of atmosphere which separates them from space. Even telescopes on the highest mountain tops did not completely eliminate the detrimental effects of the earth’s atmosphere on the telescopes ability to observe space.

In 1990, with the deployment of the first telescope not hindered by the obscuring effects of the earth’s atmosphere, one of the greatest advances in the history of astronomy was made. The Hubble Space Telescope, in orbit around the earth, allows astronomers to see the universe as never before. Great leaps in our understanding of galaxies, objects in space, gravity, time, the age of the universe, and many other subjects have been made possible with the help of the Hubble Space Telescope.